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  • Page | Last updated: 13 Jan 2025

Food-Based Dietary Guidelines - Guidance on sweeteners

Health Promotion Knowledge Gateway

Summary of FBDG guidance on sweeteners for the EU, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and the United Kingdom

Due care was taken to ensure factually correct information. Food groupings and food group names differ across individual FBDGs; the ones used here are a compromise to present the information in a structured way. Differences such as those in number of portions and portion sizes were kept unaltered. The original country FBDGs and the responsible national public health authorities remain the only qualified points of reference.

Country

FBDG guidance on sweeteners

Belgium-
BulgariaPrefer tap or mineral water to soft drinks and fruit juices containing sugar or other sweeteners.
CzechiaPreferably unsweetened beverages.
DenmarkFor adults, sugar-free beverages can be a temporary solution to cutting down on sugar-sweetened beverages. Both adults and children should in general reduce their intake of sweet beverages. These include both sugar sweetened and sugar free variants. 

Country

FBDG guidance on sweeteners

Germany-
Estonia-
IrelandDiet soft drinks provide fluid but these can be harmful to teeth.
GreeceSweeteners should be use consciously and their overconsumption should be avoided.

Country

FBDG guidance on sweeteners

SpainIn order not to enhance the taste for sweet flavours, minimize or avoid the consumption of sugary and sweetened beverages.
It is better not to favour the consumption of foods with a sweet flavour (with sugar or sweeteners).
FranceDiet drinks have the advantage of having no calories compared with sweetened drinks but as they taste sweet, their consumption should be limited.
CroatiaLimit the intake of fat, sweeteners and salt.
ItalyLimit use of low-calorie sweeteners. It is best to avoid monotonously consuming products that contain the same sweetener.

Country

FBDG guidance on sweeteners

CyprusAvoid sugars and sweeteners at breakfast.
LatviaIt is not recommended to frequently include in the diet products with so-called "artificial" sugar substitutes - saccharin, cyclamate and aspartame, etc. sweeteners (about 200 times sweeter than sugar), unless you have diabetes or some other condition that prevents you from consuming sugars.
LithuaniaChoose foods marked with the "Keyhole" symbol, which means they contain no sweeteners.

Country

FBDG guidance on sweeteners

Luxembourg-
Hungary-
MaltaAvoid soft and sweetened drinks especially in children.

Country

FBDG guidance on sweeteners

NetherlandsLight soft drinks contain no or few calories. However they have no or little other nutritional value, and they are acidic drinks that may be harmful to the teeth. Therefore they are outside the Wheel of Five.
Austria-
Portugal-
Romania-

Country

FBDG guidance on sweeteners

Slovenia-
SlovakiaPrefer drinking water and unsweetened drinks.
FinlandAcidic non-sugar sweetened beverages should not be consumed regularly.
Sweden-

Country

FBDG guidance on sweeteners

Switzerland

Only consume soft drinks, including light or zero drinks, in small quantities (0 to 1 portion per day). Light and zero drinks that contain artificial sweeteners are low in energy, but encourage people to get used to a sweet taste and usually contain acids that are harmful to their teeth.

Prefer dairy products without added sugar or other sweeteners such as plain yogurt or cottage cheese.

Sweet drinks and fruit juice drinks (with added sugar or sweeteners) are not included in the “drinks” group in the food pyramid. They are not suitable thirst quenchers and should only be consumed occasionally, in small quantities.

United KingdomSwap sugary soft drinks for diet, sugar-free or no-added-sugar varieties to reduce your sugar intake.
SwitzerlandDrinks with sweeteners, even though they provide only a few calories, are not advised to quench thirst. They support the preference for really sweet tastes and often contain acids that destroy the teeth.
Iceland-
Norway-